ARTICLE

Local Sounds: Soccer Mommy's 'Collections' is best for when you're thinking about your ex

Aug 15 2017

Posted by: Staff

By: Tyler Kes

I think there is a lot of non-musical stuff that will annoy people about Soccer Mommy, the musical group made up of Nashville native and current NYU student Sophie Allison and her new band.

For one thing, she’s young.

It always seems to make people angry when it becomes clear a younger person is clearly talented, and even more so when they make it in some other way than the established one.

Make no mistake about it, both are true statements, because, as exemplified on the group’s first full release, Collections, which dropped Aug. 4, Allison is a talented songwriter. The album is a mix of older songs previously given some attention through Bandcamp, mixed in with a couple of newer ones.

It is also pretty brief, clocking in at just under a half-hour.

The music is going to be somewhat justifiably identified as “basic white girl music,” dealing mostly with melodramatic take on topics typical of your early 20s, including broken hearts and unrequited love, but the writing beneath the music is better than that implies.

But I stuck with it, and after listening to it several more times, it started to make me smile.

The song itself is about just not being able to handle your feelings for someone you’re petty sure is not a good idea for you, but they’re just so damn sexy, what are you supposed to do?

It was the right level of over-the-top, finding that perfect mix detached, “yeah OK, whatever,” but also making you scream inside with how true it is.

Not all of the songs on the album are as difficult.

There are a couple of them that are clearly good when viewed from the surface, including “Out Worn,” one of the newer songs written to fill out the album’s roster.

It is a song that feels likes something Taylor Swift would have sung – if she went low key and indie instead of going the pop route – about a girl finally realizing that the guy she’s with is definitely not worth her time anymore.

The difference is that when Allison sings, the feelings ring true.

I am not sure if that is because the music Soccer Mommy produces just sounds more polished and has the grit you would expect from someone with a little bit more life experience, but when she sings things like “I want the feeling of being admired/You only taught me to be out worn/This ain’t the love that I had desired/I’m sick of living in your eyes,” it feels raw and real, coming from an actual life event.

Allison has a pleasant voice to listen to, which mixes nicely with the sound her band produces behind her. It is very casual and chill – even the upbeat peppy songs are still pretty mellow.

This is definitely not an album for everyone, but don’t let that stop you from checking it out.

The best conditions for listening to this is album is late at night, maybe after you’ve had a couple of drinks and you start thinking about your ex and begin to pull out your phone.

Instead, maybe stream this and really allow yourself to feel those feelings you really haven’t processed.

The clever lyrics will help you process the pain, as all good emo songs should.

If that sounds like a terrible evening to you, then you are probably fine skipping this.